Topic:
Country: United States of America
Delegate Name: Shiva Rajan
SPECPOL
Determining the Legitimacy of Secessionist Movements
United States of America
Shiva Rajan
Forest Hills Eastern
Secessionist movements occur all around the world. Currently, there are over 60 active secessionist movements in every continent. A secession movement is an attempt to separate a region into different governing bodies. The legitimacy of movements can be determined based on the individuals that participate in the movement. Because secession movements are driven by self-determination, it is a principal factor in the identification of these movements. The problem, however, rises when factors like discrimination and equal rights are not properly respected. The legitimacy of these movements vary as the scale of each secession movement is different. This varying size of conflict can cause different problems. While a smaller movement is going to be less of a problem and a larger movement will be a bigger problem, both can cause poverty, disease, and military action. The legitimacy of these movements are unclear and need to be taken seriously. This is a growing problem, and influences the culture, economy, and people of every country in the world and must be given a proper solution.
In recent years, secession has not been a drastic problem in the United States, but the nation experienced a large-scale secession movement in the 1800s. During the Civil War, the Confederacy wanted to split from the Union (United States) and form their own country due to the vast difference in slavery views. Since this was an action carried out from self-determination and the will of the people, this would be an occurrence of secession in US history. However, apart from this major event, the USA has not experienced another secession movement on this scale.
In response to this issue, the United States urges the United Nations to take a specific action on this imminent problem and recognize the effects of secession legitimacy. The United States recommends creating smaller committees with countries of similar views to create a proper method of identifying and responding to these secession movements.
